RISEOFRONALDO 49preferencenottoplayatthesameclubasMourinho.
Justbefore Christmasitwasreported thatRonaldohad no
planstoaccepta contractofferfromRealMadridthatwould
uphissalary from€ 10 m to€ 15 m netper year. ForMadrid that
representedahugeleap, as a change in thetax lawmeansthat
Ronaldo’staxrate,effectivelypaidbyMadrid,leapsfrom 23 per
centto 50 per cent.Thearticle’sauthorisextremelycloseto
Ronaldo’s agentJorge Mendes, so evenif thestory wasnot
trueitwas certainlya storythatMendeswantedpublished.
Itcame just a few days afterPatriceEvrahadsaid:“I keep
intouchwith himandwetalka lot.Hewantsto be at United
andwemisshim.Hehas doneincrediblethings at Real
Madridandbrokenalltherecordsbuttheyhavenot
shownhimthe respecthedeserves.
“Here at United,Ronaldoenjoyed theaffectionofhis
team-mates,themanagerandthefans.He’sa winner
buthealsolikestofeelwanted.”
Ferguson,whoRonaldoalwaystalksaboutin glowing
terms,definedhim“very human”.Themanwhonurtured
himasa teenagersaidthathewouldlovetohaveRonaldo
back,buttherewasrealismtoo.Who,heasked,couldafford
thePortuguesenow?ParisSaint-Germain,perhaps?They
happilyadmitRonaldoisa targetandthattheirclubisone
wheretheimpossibleisbecomingpossible.
Evra’sremarkwasan interestingone,notleast because
Ronaldo’s performancesatRealMadridhavebeensuperb
sincethe then-clubpresidentRamonCalderonstrucka deal
tobringhimtoSpain.Sogood, in fact,thattheyare barely
plausible.Thathefeelsunloved is striking, giventhe context
ofbrilliantdisplays. Displaysthat,farfromgettingworse,
aregettingbetter.
DETERMINATIONANDAMBITION
Ronaldoisthe onekeepingRealMadridgoingattimes,
draggingthemthroughgames,leadingthemon.Hehas
showna determinationand ambition lacking in others;real
leadership.Yes,someteamshavelearnttofrustrate himand
Madridbysittingdeepanddenyingthemthespaceinto which
torun andwithwhichtheyareirresistible.But theaccusation
thathegoesmissinginthe bigmatcheshasbeendefinitively
blownawayatMadrid.No flat-trackbully,hehas grown
against thebiggestopponents.
AsMadridwereknockedout in theChampionsLeague
semi-finalin 20 11,Ronaldowasalonefigureinchasingdown
Barcelonadefendersand runningatthem.A fewdaysearlier
hehadscoreda toweringheaderagainst Barcelonathatwon
Madrid theCopadelRey.Lastseason,hesteppedroundVictor
Valdestoscore thegoalatCampNouthatwrappedup the
leaguetitlefor Madridfourdayslater. Thisseason,hescored
twiceattheCampNou in a2-2draw.Indoingso,hebecame
thefirstplayer in historytoscorein sixconsecutiveClasicos.
Hehas scoredin eachofhislastfourvisits to Barcelona.
Whenhescored thewinnerattheCampNou last season,
Ronaldoranto thetouchlineandcelebratedbydoinga kind
of“calmdown”gesture.Themessagewasclear:“Relax,I’m
here.Leave it to me.” Arrogant?Sure, butnotsuchabadidea.
Hehad been decisiveagain.Madridhavefartoomany good
playerstoevertalkaboutthembeinga one-manshow, but
hisimpactisastonishing.Ronaldoisnotthekindoffootballer
whocontrolsgames,buthedoeswinthem.Thereis a sense
ofconstant, imminentdanger. He is a forceofnature;fast,
powerful,a whirlwind.There’s somethingatoncebrutal
andbeautifulabouthisgame.
Heiscockyattimes, butit’stemptingto respond“andwhy
not?”Hefamouslyremarkedthatpeoplewerejealousof him
becausehe is “rich,handsomeandgoodatfootball”.They
forgotthathewasat leastpartjoking. Andthathewas right
(ontwo outofthreeat least).Besides,itisthatattitude,the
sheerbloody-mindeddeterminationofhim,thathasmade
himthe playerhe is.Someofthe talentisnatural,butithas
beenperfectedover theyears.Heisa productof application
asmuchasinspiration.Hehasn’talwaysplayedbrilliantly,of
course,butnorhasheeverhidden.Gary Nevillerecently
wrote of himredefiningthegame.
Athis best,heisubiquitous, everywhere.Yes,there are
momentswhenhechoosesthewrongoptions,andthere
issomewildshooting,butthe ambitionisundiminished.
After onegame,a commentatorclaimed:“Heis not
Cristiano,heisthe wholeofChristianity.”Anothernewspaper
declared:“Godcamedressed as CR7.”Andwhilehyperbole
comesasstandard in Spain,itwasunderstandable.But
sometimesthe best measurecomesfromtheunscripted,
offthecuff andoff-the-recordremarks,nomicrophoneinthe
way,justanimpressionfromupclose,deliverednaturally.After
onegame,anoppositionplayerdepartedthestadium, shook
hishead sadlyandblewouthischeeks.“Whenhe’splaying
likethis,heiscompletelyunstoppable.Trulyincredible.”FASTESTTO 1 00 GOALS
Ronaldoscored 16 8 goalsinhisfirst1 68 gamesforReal
Madrid.Onlysixplayershavescoredmorethanhiminthe
club’s entirehistory. To putthatintocontext,hehasonly
beentherethree-and-a-halfseasonsandRealMadridis
notexactlyany oldclub.Hewas thefastestplayer ever to
reach1 00 goalsatMadridandthefirstin Spaintoget over
30 leaguegoals twoseasonina row. No player hadever
scoredover 3 8 goals in La Liga historybefore,butRonaldo
didittwoseasonsina row.
Lookathisscoringrecord forMadridanditistruly
astonishing: 26 goalsin 29 leaguegamesinhisfirst season,
40 in 34 the campaignafter that, 46 in 38 last year, and 16
alreadythisterm. In Europe,hehasscored 16 inhis last1 6
matches. That’s a goala gamefor threeanda halfyears.
It’sjustnotnormal.
Somehow,though,itisnotenough.Atleastthat’show he
seemstoseeit.
Somehow,Ronaldo doesnotfeelloved.Hefeelshe should
befeted,butheisnot.Oratleasthe thinksheisnot.Hefeels
hedeservesdifferenttreatment.Justhow differentmightbe
drivenhomewhenhereturns to OldTraffordfor thefirst time.Helpinghand...CristianoRonaldowithSir Alex Ferguson